2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV Powertrain (other) Problems

Video available and was given to USAA insurance company. This 2021 GM Chevrolet Bolt EV Premier trim vehicle experienced a sudden uncommanded extreme acceleration when I selected "D" (drive) mode on the transmission selector after using "R" (reverse) to back out of a parking lot parking space. The vehicle, despite my stomping and holding the brake pedal down and repeatedly selecting a different mode on the transmission selector, could not be stopped and still wanted to accelerate. The vehicle traveled an estimated 250 feet through a parking lot, crossing a street, hitting the curbs at high speed and through a field. The vehicle stopped against some concrete debris in the field pushing in the bumper slightly but with no airbag deployment. The mishap incident was video recorded and thankfully, there were no passengers or public / private property damages / injuries.

NHTSA ID

11655690

Incident

Apr 17, 2025

Car stalled suddenly on road. Can’t change to any driving gear, only neutral. Towed to dealer, diagnose indicated wiring harness was the cause. Expensive fix for ~$400 part with ~$3200 labor cost in addition to dangerous sudden stall.

NHTSA ID

11589044

Incident

May 14, 2024

While driving on the road, a sound came from under the car, and suddenly the car lost all propulsion power and was gliding on the road. The manufacturer told me the Manual Disconnect Lever was disconnected and Fuse was blown with no explanation on the root cause. After a few calls with the GM customer service, they explained to me "It happens", which to me it is unacceptable. This is a EV and fuse does not just randomly blown.

NHTSA ID

11529180

Incident

Jun 6, 2023

Merging onto freeway from about 50 MPH to 70 MPH. Blind zone alert indicated there was a vehicle was in my blind spot. Proceeded to accelerate full throttle into traffic when car began shuddering and then suddenly lost power. Car would not restart and needed to be towed to dealer for warranty repair. Car was at dealer for 9 days waiting for repair.

NHTSA ID

11476083

Incident

Jul 17, 2022

Four times during a cross country trip, after a Level 3 dc charging session, the car would either not start or if it did would not shut off. The gear could not be shifted into reverse or drive and the radio, AC all shut down even though the car was still on. The service soon indicator light came on. Diagnostics from ON-STAR said that it was the propulsion system. Another indicator light came on saying conditions not right shifting. The fifth time it occured while the car was moving and unlike the four previous times the gear couldn't be jiggled or temporarily rebooting the car by removing the 12-volt battery. The car had to be towed to the dealer where it was announced that drive control wiring harness needed to be replaced. This problem is well documented on GM Bolt forums. The car should have been recalled before my family was put at risk. I wasted 12 hours during a 19 hour move across the country due to this known problem. I was stranded in life threatening triple digit heat indices.

NHTSA ID

11471571

Incident

Jun 21, 2022

While accelerating, the vehicle's drive system stopped functioning. The vehicle slowly came to a stop while displaying errors about the propulsion, and was no longer able to move under it's own power. All other systems were still working, however the hazard lights do not stay on when I had to try powering the vehicle off and back on again. The vehicle has been towed to a Chevrolet dealership for diagnosis.

NHTSA ID

11444427

Incident

Dec 19, 2021

High voltage battery has been recalled due to fire risk on 8.20.2021. No remedy for repair has been performed and I have had difficulty getting information from GM regarding my vehicle swap due to the recall. The vehicle is becoming more unusable as the weather gets colder due to the charging limitations set in the recall.

NHTSA ID

11434352

Incident

Aug 20, 2021

The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated while parking the vehicle and placing it into park, the vehicle lunged forward which resulted in the contact hitting the vehicle in front of them. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an unknown dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,700.

NHTSA ID

11430469

Incident

Aug 25, 2021

Mileage

2,700 mi

Driver had pulled up and stopped at red light with vehicle in D mode (normal drive). Driver had placed hand on gear shift lever and went to shift into L mode (one pedal driving) by using normally accepted procedure of pulling gear shift lever one click back to engage L mode or switch back to D mode. Hand or finger was apparently resting too far on top of gear shift lever push button and without knowing, vehicle shifted into R (reverse) instead of L mode (one pedal driving). When driver pushed accelerator pedal, vehicle lurched backward. Driver immediately applied braking to stop car and narrowly avoid collision with vehicle behind driver. Driver was able to duplicate this issue a second time.

NHTSA ID

11430440

Incident

Aug 25, 2021

As I started to leave the driveway in a forward driving position, my brand new Chevy bolt with only 2430 miles on it put itself into park. It made a terrible metal grinding noise and jolted us forward. My foot was still on the accelerator because I thought it was going to drive but it stopped then I looked around trying to figure out why. The “e” break was not on and I realized that the car was in park. Nothing was around the drive stick. Nothing touched it and I believe it put it’s self into park when I was driving. This was very scary to us and I did not know what to do so I called the Chevy dealer where I bought the car and they said to bring it into get checked. On my way the accelerator pedal started to wiggle and shake slightly.

NHTSA ID

11421350

Incident

Jun 17, 2021